Intergovernmental Parks Work Group Agenda 10-13-21

Browse Search

committee. She thinks this committee it's a great way for all of us to get-together and have dialog about everything related to Parks and Recreation • Dave introduced Beth Young who is overseeing the zoom meeting 3. Providing Recreation Programs and Park Management during the Pandemic- Lessons Learned and Challenges Faced Each jurisdiction was asked to talk about how and what challenges and issues they have faced in the past year (10 minutes max each group). • Dave (Orange County) -We all have had to learn so many new things quite a bit of knowledge and awareness came out of the last 13 months so it seemed appropriate to let each jurisdiction talk about what we did find out and how we did. • Phil (Chapel Hill) - one of the biggest things was the importance of dialog with other agencies and piers tricky time to navigate. Having the ability to bounce ideas off others was phenomenal. After a few early missteps everyone got on the same page with what they could and should be doing which helped the public find consistency. Eventually they could function with a modified operating status after the expiration of the stay at home order so there were different opportunities available. At this point staff is comfortable with sanitation and screening protocol. Staff was adaptable and the state and Orange County Health Department was helpful in providing information. We learned the importance of all of our services particularly for opportunities for folks to be able to get outdoors with families recreating. They saw a general trend in large usage numbers in trail use. Bolan Creek saw 3000-5000 more visits per month which really paints the picture of the importance of what they have and were able provide throughout the pandemic. They accomplished some significant projects with help from our community and other agencies. They opened Booker Creek Basin Park with help from their public works department. They had a public art installation on Bolin Creek. The art; a mural is on the structure that goes underneath MILK. Booker Creek trail now has some painted public art of the sewer pipes also; which you can see from Franklin Street. They saw growth in their adopt-a-park or trail program. Removing Invasive species added value to the parks and to the ecology. They held a virtual Arbor Day celebration in November an installation at town Hall wrapped up a yearlong tree planting campaign that resulted in planting 400 trees within the town. They partnered with YMCA and Chapel Hill/Carrboro schools and the public schools foundation to host scholastic support center centers for 100 youth per day between Community Center and Hargraves very proud of that and it was great to be able to use the rec centers in a different way. They had a lot of great experiences in regard to our operation and we continue to the importance of ours services. Pam added - we created more spaces for pickle ball and provided more activities for more people and staff did a great job. • Anita- (Carrboro) Challenges Faced: • Access to PPE, particularly in the early stages of the pandemic. • Closing park amenities (playgrounds, pavilions, etc.) and Century Center • Planning and implementing programs based on the uncertainty from month to month. • Educating and balancing resident needs and special interest groups wants with the use of park amenities. • Virtual fatigue - schoolchildren online all day, professionals on Zoom meetings, etc. Some do not want to recreate in that manner. • Providing virtual programming to all of the community. Working through and with disproportionate resources, neighborhoods, understanding of technology, etc. • High quality virtual content for events, concerts, etc. requires a certain level of equipment, expertise, etc. Comes at a significant cost premium vs. in-person events. • Programming during winter months more challenging since we could not move some programming outdoors as we could with other seasons. • Concern as the pandemic continues whether or not participation patterns in recreation will change and how we can continue to respond to it. • Adequate resources to accommodate work from home. • Maintain an extra layer of control as it relates to budgetary spending. (Postponed park projects and the use of some part-time employees.) Lessons Learned: • The pandemic reaffirmed the importance of recreation and parks opportunities; providing benefits (physical, mental, and emotional health; socialization; etc.)